Metea, Plainfield N. take turns playing well2-2 draw is end result of back-and-forth action

By Matt Le Cren

AURORA – Players and coaches from both Metea Valley and Plainfield North felt their teams deserved to win Thursday night’s match, and they were right.

Both sides could make an argument that they had the better of the action, if only for certain parts of the game. In the end, neither one could impose its will on the other, and the game ended in a 2-2 draw.

“I thought they played better for the first half and I thought the last 20 to 25 minutes [of the match] it felt like we were all over them,” Plainfield North coach Jane Crowe said. “I thought the last 25 minutes we played great. so if we play like that all the time, then I think we win that game. But they may say the same thing about the first half: If they play like that in the second half, they win.”

Ironically, all of the scoring was done in a 17-minute stretch of the first half, with host Metea Valley (0-0-2) twice rallying from a goal down.

Raven Withaar opened the scoring for the Tigers (1-0-1) when she launched a 35-yard shot from the right wing that went off the hands of leaping Mustangs goalie Amy Ahern and into the net at the 27:21 mark.

The Mustangs roared back and nearly got the equalizer when sophomore MaKenna Schoolman fired a 15-yard shot off the crossbar with 19:35 left.

Schoolman had nothing to show for that effort, but she would get hers later. In the meantime, senior midfielder Katie Kennedy scored the tying goal for Metea at the 17:59 mark on a blistering 28-yard free kick into the upper right corner.

“I got fouled at the top of the box and I just got (mad), so I hit the ball as hard as I could and it went in the top corner,” Kennedy said. “So that was good.”

A little constructive anger was exactly what Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley was looking for from Kennedy, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match.

“I turned to my assistant and said maybe she’s (angry) enough to really hit this one,” Whaley said. “She had one on Tuesday night that she hesitated a little bit and didn’t really hit it, so we kind of talked to her about it.

“We’re like, ‘You’ve got to hit it, you’ve got to put your laces on it and put something behind it.’ She did, and sure enough it was a beautiful shot.”

The Tigers, however, retaliated with a beautiful free kick of their own. Senior defender Brooke Polonus gave the visitors their second lead of the evening with 10:35 to go in the half on a booming 34-yard free kick. Ahern, a vertically challenged sophomore, jumped and got a hand on the ball, but it wasn't enough to stop from going under the crossbar.

“I think we noticed that she’s a little on the shorter side, so I think that we tried to take as many shots as we could aiming up as high as we could because you’ve got to take advantage of that,” Polonus said. “But usually I just step up there and take it.”

Polonus, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee signee, was making her season debut after recovering from a bout of mono. She missed the Tigers’ season-opening 2-0 win over Lane Tech on Wednesday and played limited minutes against the Mustangs.

“She was cleared yesterday, so she didn’t play a ton,” Crowe said. “We’re trying to get her worked back in and figure out where people are going to fit around her.”

Polonus was just glad to be able to contribute.

“I’ve been out for a couple of weeks,” Polonus said. “I wanted to at least run or something but I couldn’t do anything. It’s nice to be back on the field.”

The goal, she said, was a bonus.

“It was really exciting, especially on the free kicks,” she said. “As a defender, those are really the only way I can contribute to scoring, so it was really cool to get that -- especially my first game back.”

For Whaley, it was cool to see the Mustangs come from behind twice. The second time didn’t take long. Schoolman tied the game at 2-2 just 66 seconds after Polonus scored.

This tally, too, was the result of a set piece. Metea defender Megan Morris sent a free kick into the box from midfield. The ball bounced off several people, including Metea’s Taylor Rohm, before Schoolman slotted an eight-yard shot in between the fingers of diving Plainfield North goalie Emma Veselsky and the right post.

“I pulled them aside at halftime and said, ‘Lot of character,' ” Whaley said. “You went down 1-0 and didn’t panic. You kept playing your game and you brought it back. Went down 2-1 and got it right back.

“They’re excited to play together, but more importantly they want to play well and they are driven by that result. So when it doesn’t happen it stings a little bit, and that’s good. I don’t want them walking away feeling like, ‘oh, we played well.’”

Whaley said the Mustangs did play well, and he was happy with that. His players, though, weren’t satisfied.

“We totally outplayed them,” Kennedy said. “We totally should have won that game and it’s very frustrating that we tied a second game, but next game we’ll get them. We’re working the ball around, getting more shots and playing more aggressively each game, so that’s encouraging.”

Plainfield North and Metea Valley are similar squads in that both return over half their starting lineups after winning regional titles last year, but neither has an offensive star.

The Mustangs, who eliminated the Tigers with a 1-0 sectional semifinal win last spring before losing to Waubonsie Valley in the sectional final, graduated career scoring leader Jenna Kentgen, while the Tigers have seven returning starters but no big proven goal scorer.

“We didn’t lose a lot of seniors, but the ones we lost were offensive, so we’re just trying to figure out who’s going to be offensive for us,” Crowe said.

Crowe anticipates senior forward Erin Chynoweth, who is currently out with mono, being a top threat, while Withaar has scored in both games. Sophomore midfielder Jessica Christmas also found the back of the net against Lane Tech.

But the Tigers are most experienced in the back, where Polonus, juniors Emily Devaux and Karsyn Stirrett and sophomore Megan Breier are returning starters. Junior midfielders Reyse Stirrett and Sam Elster are the other returning starters.

“I think we definitely have a lot more defenders coming in this year than we do offense, but I think that’s something we’re going to work with and I think we’ll be fine,” Polonus said. “We just have to find our target player, but we haven’t really had any problems scoring. The game last night we were able to finish quickly.”

The Mustangs, too, have looked good on offense in the early going. Kennedy, senior midfielder Alena Sidwell and sophomore midfielder/forward Jade Eriksen-Russo, who scored in Tuesday’s 1-1 tie with Wheaton North, are just a few of the talented attackers the Mustangs will rely on.

“You’re missing that one player that maybe we had up top in that goal scorer in Kentgen, but somebody like Alena Sidwell is going to step up and some of our young players, mostly sophomores, will step,” Whaley said. “Jade stepped up big on Tuesday. It will probably be a different girl each day.”

While the Mustangs are younger than they have been in recent years, they aren’t going to use that as an excuse.

“[Plainfield North] is a good team, but our girls are looking to finish it and got frustrated,” Whaley said. “They deserve a win and we haven’t gotten it yet. We’ll get it.”